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People with learning disabilities still face inequalities in access to health services. This article, which comes with a handout for a journal club discussion, sums up what nurses can do to reduce these inequalities

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People with learning disabilities still face inequalities in access to health services. This article, which comes with a handout for a journal club discussion, sums up what nurses can do to reduce these inequalities

Campaign targets booming counterfeit drugs industry

Counterfeit medicine is posing an increasing risk to public health, with millions of people rejecting prescription drugs for sham versions bought online, research has claimed.

Speaking at the launch of Get Real, Get a Prescription - a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of such substances - an umbrella organisation of pharmaceutical companies and regulatory bodies warned the drugs had no medical benefits.

The initiative, which cautions against buying unregulated medication from generic websites, comes in response to the news that one in seven adults admit to avoiding the healthcare system to get hold of supposedly prescription-only medicine.

Doctors at the launch said the substances frequently contained harmful materials such as rat poison, boric acid and lead paint, were regularly produced by people without appropriate qualifications and often contained too much, too little or none of the relevant active ingredient.

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